This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The contact owns a 2013 Kia Optima. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle was stalling despite depressing the accelerator pedal. The contact also stated that there was a fuel smell and that she repeatedly needed to refill the engine oil. Additionally, the contact stated that on three different occasions while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power and failed to restart, and had to be towed to her residence. The check engine and the engine oil warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was then towed to a local dealer where it was diagnosed that the fuel pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure reoccurred. The contact stated that after starting the vehicle and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle lost motive power. The vehicle failed to restart and the contact stated that there was smoke coming from under the hood. The vehicle was towed back to the local dealer where it remained awaiting diagnosis and repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 94,000.
The engine was just about to explode when me and family riding the car Kia Dealer does not want to fix the car despite that it has an engine recall The car was not inspected yet, but I am ready to get it inspected there were not any sign warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure
The system that failed was my engine. I sent my car to One Stop Collision Auto Repair in Chicago Ridge Illinois. Once the mechanic did his diagnostic, I was told i had -€œno oil-€ in my car which caused my engine to fail. However I had gotten an oil change July 12th, 2022. There is a sticker on my windshield in the top left corner by the drivers side stating when my oil was changed. My oil notification became to come on July 9th which let me know i needed an oil change.For this specific problem with my vehicle, the mechanic told me -€œyou won-€™t get an oil notification because it has nothing to do with your oil. It is a known problem with these types of cars.-€ I then began to question if there was a recall. I then look onto the My Car max app which lets me know if there was any recalls. There were 2 recalls with MY SAME VIN NUMBER. I don-€™t know if it is available for inspection.My safety was at risk because I was not aware of any issues on my dashboard or any recalls as i was buying the car. My car began jerking with my inside of it driving which almost caused an accident. My car was sent to a auto repair shop to find out the problem. Once he let me know what the problem was, My car was then sent to International Kia for their own diagnostic and a repair when they find out the problem. The car should be going under inspection now that it is at the manufacture (International Kia). There were NO warning lamps, messages, or any symptoms of the problem prior to the failure. I-€™ve had this car only since March 17, 2022 (6 months).
Started with oil light flashing, then the other lights came on. Started losing speed, then lost all power to the engine, will not start back up with the engine, when trying to start it, the engine started smoking.
- Ramseur, NC, USA
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While driving the vehicle on a two lane highway passing an eighteen wheeler the car engine suddenly died prior to overtaking the truck. Very difficult and dangerous especially since the vehicle behind me followed to overtake the truck at the same time. This was a very uncomfortable situation especially since in the meantime there was oncoming traffic heading in the opposite direction that had to drive on the grass shoulder to avoid a head on collision since I had difficulty merging into now much faster moving traffic that was stacked up behind the eighteen wheeler. The reason the engine died was because it locked up due to oil starvation due to a known manufacturing defect that should have been covered by the extended warranty that was put into place from to a lawsuit from NHTSA. The vehicle is a 2013 Kia Optima with 60k miles. According to Kia customer care the extended warranty wont be honored because the car was previously involved in a collision to the right rear corner of the vehicle that took place years ago and thousands of miles ago. The service advisor advised against purchasing a used engine because they are all bad and they will all fail sooner or later and wants almost $6000 to replace the engine.
I was driving on the highway, and knocking noise came out form the engine. The engine began to lose power, and I had to immediately to pull over the car. This car has a theta II engine, and had gone bad due excessive connecting rod bearing damage. I brought the car to a dealership, and confirmed this is the case. The engine only has 77k on it, and will need replacement. These engines are not safe, and should be replaced by dealerships.
The car stops in middle of road and turns off if I go over 20 MPH. It's happened twice in the middle of highway and I've had to get towed home. The engine light is on and blinking and I hear knocking sounds. My boyfriend has a code reader and he said when he hooked code reader up to car it showed the exact same code as the other kia optimas engine problems. This needs to be a recall!!
I was driving my 2013 Kia Optima when all of a sudden, the car stalled while on a highway. Luckily I was able to pull to the side, narrowly missing a tractor-trailer. After it wouldn-€™t start, I had it towed to my mechanic. He then diagnosed it as a seized engine. I had it towed to my local Kia dealer, and it-€™s been sitting there for 4 months, and i was told it can take another 6 MORE MONTHS to get the engine replaced, AND they -€˜may not cover the cost-€™. They are giving me the run-around. This is ridiculous. There-€™s even a recall on the engine. What should I do? Thank you D.H.
Driving our car om a road trip on a busy canyon highway, check engine started blinking and car died. Was able to get off on the shoulder and contact a tow. Towed to local mechanic, engine was blown. Towed it to local KIA Dealership. Dealership had our car almost 4 months. KIA approved engine, it was finally replaced. Got car back and the next day check engine light came on and car shut down again. Towed to KIA dealership.
The contact owns a 2013 Kia Optima. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence. The contact's boyfriend had retrieved an error code on the vehicle for engine failure. The local dealer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that there was no recall associated with the VIN. The failure mileage was 88,524.
The contact's son owns a 2013 Kia Optima. The contact stated while his son was driving approximately at 50 MPH and accelerating to highway speed, the vehicle shuddered, jerked and finally stalled. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact's son veered to the side of the road. The contact's son was able to restart the vehicle and drove to his residence. Additionally, the contact stated that there was an abnormal loud knocking sound coming from the engine. An unknown dealer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle was experiencing bearing wear that could damage the engine and could cause the engine replacement. However, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 155,000.
I was driving my 2013 Kia Optima on the highway when all of a sudden the car stalled. I was nearly hit by a semi truck and several cars. I was finally able to coast to the shoulder of the road. I tried starting it and it would not. I had it towed to my mechanic and he diagnosed it as a -€˜seized engine-€™, for no reason. I take good care of my car I change the oil every 3000 miles. Currently, I am trying to get it fixed through KIA, but they are giving me a hard time.
Unknown, car was fine then stopped out of no where yesterday, I was scheduled with Kia dealership to have recalled fixed next month but they called and canceled my recall this is now the 2nd attempt and they still have yet to fix recall and now car isn-€™t working properly!
When the fuel smell occurred i contacted my dealer and was told about a recall i have been complaining about the smell before i received my second recall paper the car was smoking and stopped working eventually and i've been without a car and unable to use my vehicle while having to maintain payments on it im am not sure why i have to pay for a problem that was spotted early on but due to neglect and unclear solutions i have wasted money on rentals and been left with no answers my check engine light was flashing i was unable to get a inspection sticker and was told it was due to the gas smell
The contact owns a 2013 Kia Optima. The contact stated while driving 71 MPH, she heard abnormal loud knocking sounds coming from the engine. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact veered to the side of the road and turned off the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the rod bearing had failed. The vehicle was then towed to the local dealer. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that they could not assist until the vehicle was diagnosed. The contact became aware of NHTSA Campaign Number: 17V224000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) which she associated with the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 160,000.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Tujunga, CA, USA